True to Form: A Novel - Hardcover

Berg, Elizabeth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 074341134X ISBN 13: 9780743411349

Publisher: Atria, 2002

Synopsis

Living with her stern, unapproachable father and his new wife after the death of her mother, fourteen-year-old Katie finds herself lonely and forges an alliance with Cynthia, a fellow misfit, but when she tries to become part of the in-crowd, she loses her best friend and learns some valuable lessons about herself, her dreams, and her past. 125,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

In her 10th novel, True to Form, Elizabeth Berg finds her way into the year 1961 and into the head of 13-year-old Katie Nash at the start of her summer vacation. Katie's world is smooth and easy with endless possibilities and sunshine. You almost expect sitcom-style canned laughter when she whines in frustration or stomps up to her room and turns the radio way up, but then almost everything Katie does fits that era's squeaky-clean conventionalities. The younger daughter of a remarried widower, Katie craves popularity, a great summer job, and a direct line to the local DJ to make requests. Newly transplanted from Texas, she settles in with her only friend, Cynthia, who shares her views on status and appearance and boys. Between a regular babysitting gig for a household of little boys and caring for an elderly bedridden woman, her summer is off to a less than auspicious start. Cynthia's mother's plot to start a Girl Scout troop and to camp out for a weekend in their living room doesn't help. Berg's plot doesn't exactly mine new territory, but Katie emerges as a girl who sees the world differently from the rest of her peers. Her poetic perspective on her surroundings and her predicaments should eventually win readers over. The period backdrop feels unformed against this portrait of a young artist-to-be, but Katie imbues it with fresh eyes. --Emily Russin

About the Author:

Elizabeth Berg is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Never Change and Open House, which was an Oprah's Book Club selection in 2000. Durable Goods and Joy School were selected as American Library Association Best Books of the Year, and Talk Before Sleep was shortlisted for the ABBY award in 1996. The winner of the 1997 New England Booksellers Award for her body of work, she is also the author of the national bestselling novels The Pull of the Moon, What We Keep, Range of Motion, and Until the Real Thing Comes Along, as well as a nonfiction work, Escaping in the Open: The Art of Writing True. A former nurse, she lives in Chicago.

About this edition

• Publisher: Atria
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 074341134X
• ISBN 13: 9780743411349
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224